First grow, Northern Lights Auto

if its on a timer put your dark period at the hotter part of the day
im interested in seeing some pics too
always wondered about sensi seeds
good luck bud and welcome to RIU

At the moment I'm doing it myself when I get home from work, then back on at 9pm. Really I think I'm going to spend an hour in the warehouse today looking for all sorts of bits n bobs that might be of use to me now or in the future before I decide that spending my money on a much better and well thought out setup is the right thing to do. I'm sure there's a timer around here somewhere .

Thankyou very much, a really helpful and friendly place so far.

yes a fan atleast is needed to move air
it makes the plants stronger swaying in the breeze dont know if you know that or not

Yes I was aware that the air flow would allow the plant to gain more strength I just thought that at this stage it wouldn't be necessary, but here I have found a fan anyhow so I'll add it into my area when I get time, and I have a timer here but I cant seem to work out which way the clock spins and it's not turning off the appliance!

The fan I have is 2KW, this is going to use a huge amount of electricity right?

I'm assuming as it's a heater, and that at the lowest setting is a/c, that it wont be 2kw at that setting but I don't want to put it in if i'm unsure as I'm not the electricity bill payer!

try to find a few oscillating fans, or some computer fans and a 12v power supply. You don't need a hurricane in there, every morning g and afternoon gently shake the stems, this will also help them strengthen up. not too hard though as they could possibly break.

You just need a little $5 oscillating fan to blow on them a bit. The movement they get from the wind will help make them stronger, and some bugs dont like living on moving plants .

I found a nice cool little calculator to see how much the CFL + fan('s) would cost me to run for a certain length of time etc, if I put the fan I have here for 8 hours a day it's still a really tiny cost for an entire month along with my lights so it's all good I think, plus it's quite powerful so it should do a good enough job of getting nice circulation.

Thanks guys.

plus it's quite powerful so it should do a good enough job of getting nice circulation.

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Too powerful isnt always the best , try it out on the lowest fan setting and sit it in front of it for about 10 minutes, if you bothers you (too much wind) it will prob bother the plant. IMO anyway

Ok i'll give that a try thanks, having troubles finding a 9v power supply for my 120mm pc fans!

If its just a case fan you should be able to just splice it with a power cord if ya one laying around if ya dont need. if ya have a bunch I have an idea i always fiddled with in my head. By chance you know what spencer gifts is? They are usually in malls. Anyway they have the string lights with like corona beer bottles or the limes. Theres like 15-20 on a string all ya really have to do if cut off the light sockets on them and splice the fans onto the light string. Any socket areas you dont use you can just yank the light bulb out of and let it be. I think of weird things i know

Edit: i'm sure xmas light strings will work as well, but set it to twinkle!!

All PC fans run off of 12V DC

I've not heard of spencer gifts no, I'm assuming it's in the US? If so i'm not a US resident, but i'll look into something similar thanks, I think i'll have to break out my toolkit! Spent last night standing whilst holding the fan for as long as I could to give them a bit of a push to the plant, I noticed it's not too powerful as it doesn't make the plant move around too much at all it just doesnt fit in my grow!

Noticed on one plant the curving has stopped and the leaves are back to normal, on the other the top leaves look to be the same but the others seem to be altering, this is since feeding with water last night and adding just a very small amount of nutes.

What do you think?
Should I adjust the way I'm watering my plants?

Well theres one simple saying.

If its not dry, dont apply.

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You dont water on a schedule. You water when the plant needs it, you feed your plant on a schedule not water it. Know what im saying when i say it like that? I just started a few babies almost 2 weeks ago. I only watered them the first day i put them in containers (which was about 24 hours after i germinated them in a shop towel. After that I didn't water at all until yesterday. I saw it raining lightly outside and took them out there for about 5 minutes. Marijuana plants dont need much water at all seriously. Usually when it comes to growing new ppl make 2 common mistakes. Over watering and PH, ease back on the watering and you will bounce back just fine. Ahh heres a pic of the lights i was telling ya about, as i said all you have to do is cut however many sockets off to attach a few fans or other things (I was thinking about buying GU10 LED's and getting the sockets and making the whole string LED's. Keep in mind dont go for anything to powerful its just a cord that ran lights

Of course I totally I understand, I've not been sticking to any particular schedule but doing the 1 inch check. I felt like I was over watering at first as my moisture meter was showing me that the soil was still ''wet'' 4inches down. So far I've found the one inch check to be ineffective at the moment as i've now noticed that the soil holds water well further down so i intentually didnt water for about 4-5 days, until i noticed the soil just looked crisp on top and was still fairly dry an inch and a half down with the meter showing as lightly moist, and the weight check really seems to work now i've taken that tip on board, so this will be an addition to helping me decide whether or not it's time to water them.

Thanks for the tips as always. I've noticed the stems gradually getting stronger, and the plant showing good signs of growth, one thing im not satisfied with is the tops seem to be getting most of the light and the bottom isnt getting much due to the fact i have only one light at the moment directly above the plants. Hopefully I will have this cfl holder sorted soon so i can add in a second 125w at the back of my grow hanging down behind the back of the reflector and in line with the sides of the plants.

Good way to learn when to water, After you give a watering lift the pot and see how heavy it is. When your plant needs water it will be VERY VERY much lighter, i'm talking like 3/4's or more lighter. If the plant was a little older id say wait till you see the leaves start to droop down a little bit. thats a good sign when they start looking a little "droopy"